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‘Idle No More’ protest in London UK as movement vows to target tar sands

Clayton Thomas-Muller sings a traditional song outside Canada House

This morning, British and Canadian supporters joined Clayton Thomas-Muller, from the Mathais Colomb Cree First Nation in Manitoba, to present a petition in support of the Idle No More movement to the Canadian government at its High Commission in London. A group of around 20 gathered on the steps of Canada House in Trafalgar Square. Clayton from the Canadian Indigenous Tar Sands Campaign opened with a traditional song and spoke, followed by Melissa Adams from the Nisga First Nation in British Columbia, Jess Worth from the UK Tar Sands Network and James Atherton from Lush Cosmetics.

The Idle No More movement has seen mass protests, road and rail blockades and uprisings across Canada in recent weeks, and continues to grow. Inspirational Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence remains on hunger strike after more than a month, determined to keep fasting until she is able to meet with Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Governor General David Johnston. She wants to discuss the ways in which First Nations’ treaties are being undermined by a series of Bills pushed through by the Canadian government, which aim to make it easier for industries, such as those operating in the controversial tar sands, to extract natural resources from Indigenous lands. On Friday, Chief Allan Adam of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation whose health and traditional livelihoods are being devastated by pollution from the tar sands industry upstream, vowed to blockade the main highway to the tar sands if their demands for a reassertion of Indigenous rights over those of industry are not met.

Today’s solidarity protest in London involved handing in a petition to Prime Minister Harper signed by Oxford residents at a protest in Oxford last Saturday. The petition called on the Harper government to ‘stop putting the interests of the tar sands industry and other environmentally destructive companies above the rights of its First Nations’, to uphold the Treaties originally signed by First Nations and the British Crown, and to set aside any legislation that undermines them.

Clayton presents a petition, signed by Oxford residents, to the Canadian High Commission

The protest then visited Buckingham Palace, to acknowledge the historical colonial relationship between Britain and Canada. As Clayton said: “2013 is the 250th anniversary of the Royal Proclamation which helped set the boundaries of Canada and established the legal relationship with Indigenous communities. We felt that it would be very symbolic to take a banner to the Queen Victoria statue, given she was the signatory to the treaties in Canada which the Harper government continues to undermine.”

Clayton and Melissa at the Queen Victoria statue at Buckingham Palace. Photo by Hugh Warwick

Clayton continued: “The complete gutting of all environmental approval, regulatory and enforcement mechanisms in Canada, through the passing of a series of Bills by the Harper government, mean that the reassertion of Aboriginal & Treaty rights are the last best hope to protect both First Nations’ & Canadians’ water, air and soil from being poisoned forever by big oil and mining corporations. We have a responsibility to stand up and fight against this threat, not just for us but for all those across the earth who are feeling the effects of climate change and water insecurity.”

Jess Worth, from the UK Tar Sands Network, said: “We are standing in solidarity today with Indigenous peoples in Canada who are seeing their right to a healthy life in a clean environment on their traditional territories auctioned off to the highest corporate bidder. As the Canadian tar sands industry seeks to squeeze every last drop of ever-more-polluting oil out of a planet that can no longer take it, we all have an interest in the success of the Idle No More movement which seeks to uphold First Nations’ rights and protect Mother Earth.”

James Atherton, from Lush Cosmetics, said: “It is greatly important to support and encourage movements like Idle No More, which acknowledge human rights and environmental issues as interlinked. For too long, the voices of Indigenous people around the world have been suppressed by colonial, domineering mindsets that live on in political and industrial systems. The Idle No More movement calls for change which is well overdue, and we support the revolution that is needed to create this positive change.”

James Atherton from Lush address activists outside Canada House

For more information, see:www.no-tar-sands.orgwww.idlenomore.cawww.ienearth.org/what-we-do/tar-sandswww.climaterevolution.org.uk

We request that the Government of Canada stops putting the interests of the tar sands industry and other environmentally destructive companies above the rights of its First Nations. The government is currently putting through eight Bills that violate existing treaties and will have the effect of undermining and destroying First Nations’ rights, traditions and territories. In particular, Bill C-45 will have significant implications for the ability of First Nations to control what happens on their traditional territories. This Bill is a massive, complex document and needs proper review and consultation with the people that it will directly affect. This has not happened.

This has provoked a country-wide grassroots uprising, Idle No More, which we support.

We request that the Government of Canada upholds all treaties signed between First Nations and the Crown, and immediately sets aside any legislation that could undermine these treaties. We further request that the principles of free, prior and informed consent, as recognised in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, are adopted by the government of Canada when dealing with all issues that impact First Nations.

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